"Oh, You're from the Bad side of town."

I have never lived in a nice neighborhood.

I have never lived in one of those shiny buildings with the nice brick walls and the fireplace and the spacious den with the three bedrooms and the double garage, with the carefully cultivated culture of a moderately moneyed community.

You know what I'm talking about. Those neighborhoods that always decorate nicely for christmas. The ones you almost never see cop cars prowling through. Whose manicured lawns and gorgeous oaks could be part of any suburban type film. Usually these places are either separated from everything in nice little communities, or they are close to some mode of transportation.

Now, I know a lot of you. You're probably thinking "Well no I never have either I'm not rich" and that may be true but what really defines what I am talking about is, when polite company finds out where you live, what do they say?

I have never lived in a nice neighborhood.

When polite company finds out where I live, eyebrows raise. Concern clearly flits across faces. Usually the first words are "Oh that's not safe" or, even more condemning "Oh. That's the bad part of town."

Other more archaic terms would be the other side of the tracks.

So why am I talking about it?
Because no one is willing to, it seems.

You see, I primarily end up in church communities. The ones with the sweet middle aged women whose kids all do well in school and make friends and are all pastel colored, if you will.
I am not saying these people never know hardships, so do not take that away from this.

What I want to talk about it the use of the term "Bad" in relation to a part of a city in which people inhabit.

So what makes a part of a town bad? Is is the dilapidated apartment complexes? The housing people have lost track of, the unruly lawns that haven't seen a lawnmower in years? Maybe it's the fuzzed out streetlights, or the police cars you see casually making their ways down streets.
No, that can't be it. Maybe it's the collection of cheap fast food joints, and the family dollars and Walmarts. Or the added security cams in every store.
Or perhaps we can turn to the bars and the tattoo parlors. Surely those are the cause of how bad this part of town is, yes?

No.

It's the people.

It's the people at the bars and the people in the tattoo shops.
It's the people at the family dollars and the Walmarts.
It's the people and their thrift stores, their clothes that don't fit right, the kids who are out of control, the single mothers who have given up.
It's the people and their cigarette smoke, their sunken depressed eyes and their sallow faces.
It's the men in their oversized hoodies, their sagging sweatpants, with the scent of weed clinging to their skin.
It's the women with their shirts too tight and their collars too low, with their long manicured nails and their wild dark lipstick.

It's not the buildings. It's the people.

And that, friends, is my problem.

As many of you are bible readers, I am sure, let me ask you something. What does it mean to you when in Genesis we see God creating mankind in His own image?
What does it mean, that all have fallen short of the glory of God?
And what does it mean when it says God loves every person, that Jesus wanted all of us from the foundations of the earth and that is why He died?

A weird trend I see in the modern church is that when a Christian runs into trouble, when they don't have money for the bills or for food, we pray for them. And when a non believer runs into the same situation, we assume they have made bad choices in their life.

And then we call them bad people.

There is no such thing as a bad person.
There is such thing has bad habits, and yes bad choices.
But for every worn out alcoholic there is a story of depression, of abandonment, of loss. For every single mother there is a story of trust broken, of love lost, of a father who walked out. For every kid that steals, there is a story of someone who has never had enough.

There is no such thing as "the bad part of town."
Not when we have a God who desired every tongue and every tribe and every nation. Not when we have a Holy Spirit with us, when we have a Father who cares. And not when we have a Jesus who loves.

I can understand that many do not feel safe in these areas but when you became a Christian, did you not get that part when God became your protector? Did you miss the part where it says He knows the plans He has for you, or the part where He says do not be afraid for He is with you?

If the small risks scare you away from loving people, how much more afraid will you be when there are bigger issues?

Who is God to you, and what are His people, anyways?

~Silver